Regina // The 100

026

"Jules," I heard someone call faintly, the sound muffled by the weight of the debris pressing down on me. My heart raced as panic surged through my veins, and it was then that I realized I was trapped beneath a nightmarish pile of rubble. My arm was agonizingly pinned between jagged rocks, and I winced as I tried to shift it, but it was immovable. My mind raced, struggling to comprehend the dire situation. "Jules!" the voice called again. When I looked to my right, I saw that I wasn't alone.

I strained to identify the familiar voice that had reached my ears, but as my senses sharpened, I recognized it immediately. "Kane?" I inquired, my gaze locked onto the figure before me. A smile crept across my face as my vision clarified, revealing him. He was ensnared in a perilous predicament, a massive beam weighing heavily on his legs, rendering him immobile. Concern etched across my face, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you ok?"

Kane's response was a solemn shake of his head. My eyes fell to my trapped arm, and as I attempted to free it, a wince escaped me when it grazed against unforgiving, jagged edges. "Jules—Jules, please," Kane's voice quivered with concern, his eyes locking onto the trickle of blood that had emerged from my futile attempts. "You might bleed out," he cautioned, his words heavy with the gravity of the situation.

"If I'm trapped here, we'll both die from lack of oxygen," I breathed out. Instead of trying to pull my arm out any further, I used my free hand to try to clear away some of the rubble. The air pocket we had was cold, practically no heat reserved down here.

The distant sound of gunshots echoed from above, causing me to flinch and then gasp, a stark reminder that there were survivors beyond the rubble. "Mountain Men," I whispered. "I guess not all the targets are dead." Kane observed my struggle with my pinned arm, concern etched across his face. I couldn't fathom how many layers of debris separated us from the outside, but my determination fueled my efforts to claw my way to freedom.

Amidst the chaos, a sudden clanking sound, reminiscent of a bell, caught my attention. I turned to Kane and observed as he reached above, grasping a metal rod that, when pulled down, shot back up, creating a loud clang against a nearby metal plate. Kane repeated this action tirelessly, his cries for help echoing through the rubble. "Conserve your oxygen," I urged, but my words seemed to fall on deaf ears as he persisted in screaming for assistance. Exhaustion eventually took its toll on him, yet he persevered, making noise in a desperate plea for anyone to hear.

"Someone's alive down there!" a voice called from above us. Amidst the grim reality of our situation, I couldn't help but wonder about the countless souls entombed within the rubble above us. How many lives had been lost in this catastrophe, and how many were now trapped, much like Kane and myself? The uncertainty gnawed at me - how many were still alive, clinging to hope, and how many had met a tragic end? The questions lingered, a sobering reminder of the devastation that had befallen us.

Kane was in pain and looked weak, and I knew I had to find a way to free him. Our only light source was through one small hole above us, but if I tried to dig around it, everything above us would collapse on us.

"I don't-- I don't think they can get down here," I panted. I gave up on trying to free my arm. I knew even if I could, I wouldn't be able to bandage it up, and there wasn't a doctor down here.

Kane's eyes were closed as he subconsciously kept clanking the metal together. "Kane?" I said but he didn't answer. "Kane?" I repeated slightly louder, biting my lip and listening for his response.

"I'm here," Kane said quietly. I was scared right now because I didn't know if we were going to survive this. Kane and I were both trapped, unsure if we could get out ourselves or if someone could get in. But if someone was able to get down here, what then? How'd we be able to get out?